Join us for a showcase of Hua’er folk Songs, Flower-Drum Lantern and Martial Arts.
Learn more about the Hua’er folk songs at the Artist Talk on July 12 at 12pm.
PRICES
Everyone: FREE
Saturday, July 12, 2014
5:00PM – 6:00PM
235 Queens Quay West
Sunday, July 13, 2014
4:00PM – 5:00PM
235 Queens Quay West
Beijing Sports University 北京体育大学
Beijing Sports University’s highly competitive martial arts program was established in 1957 to pass on the traditional sport and its philosophy of mind and movement harmony.
Professor Li Qiaoling 李巧玲
Festival participant Professor Li Qiaoling graduated and has taught traditional martial arts at the University for over 30 years. Li is the fifth generation of masters in the Shanxi xingyiquan technique, a unique martial arts style that features quick fighting while moving. She also teaches other styles and routines such as tai chi and animal-mimicking forms. At the Festival, Li will be joined by two of her students, Chai Yunlong 柴云龙 and TianMengyi 田梦艺, who have both won national and international awards. Chai was the Tai Chi Champion at the 12th World Wushu (Martial Arts) Championships.
Flower-Drum Lantern
Flower-Drum Lantern (Hua Gu Deng) is a folk art form that blends dance, songs, drama, and percussive music. It is popular in the area of the Huai River, which is generally regarded as a geographical dividing line between North China and South China. Traditionally, Flower Drum Lantern is performed at temple fairs, usually after the autumn harvest. In recent years, it has also been adopted by urban people who gather to dance in communities or squares as a daily exercise.
Yue Ying 岳颖
Yue Ying was born in Fengtai, Anhui Province, which is a center of the art of Flower Drum Lantern. Yue started training in Flower Drum Lantern at age nine, then went on to study choreography at the Beijing Dance Academy, which enabled him to add contemporary choreographic ideas to the traditional art form. Yue has performed in a number of countries, and appeared in 2013 at the Chinese American Festival featuring Anhui Province on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Guo Yujie 郭玉洁
Guo Yujie studied at the Fengtai Flower Drum Lantern Art School before she became a professional dancer with the Jiangsu Provincial Song and Dance Theater. She has performed at such occasions as the opening and closing ceremonies of the Second Asian Youth Games in Nanjing in 2013.
Hua’er
Hua’er is a form of folk song popular among several ethnic groups in northwestern China. Literally meaning “flower,” it may have received its name from the image of a flower symbolizing one’s beloved woman. Many hua’er songs begin with metaphoric and symbolic depictions of scenery, before developing into the real theme, which may be young love, the hard work and weariness of the farming life, and the foibles of men and women. The music is drawn from an extensive traditional repertoire named after ethnicities, towns, or flowers. The lyrics are improvised in keeping with certain rules.
Suonan Sunbin 索南孙斌
Suonan Sunbin is a Tibetan singer from Qinghai Province, who has been singing hua’er since age seven. When he was a teenager, he left home and worked at mines, construction sites and restaurants, before he began to study at Qinghai Culture and Arts Academy in 1999. He has since released several albums and performed both nationally and internationally.
Cairang Zhuoma 才让卓玛
Cairang Zhuoma is a Tibetan singer from Qinghai Province who has won a number of awards, including the Silver Award at the Folksongs Competition of Northwestern China in 2003.
Kong Weifang 孔维芳
From Gansu Province, Kong Weifang has sung hua’er since childhood. She won the Silver Award at the Western China Hua’er Competition in 2006 and released her first album last year.